Madhavan in Goa, Narvekar's brother-in-law in

Sandesh Prabhudesai
11 April 2001  

K Madhavan, the commissioner of the BCCI and former CBI chief, has flown down to Goa on a fact finding mission regarding the bogus ticket racket at the final ODI between Australia and India held in Goa on 6 April.

"The BCCI is neither conducting any inquiry into the matter nor investigating it", he clarified while talking to rediff.com, stating that they have no right to interfere into the investigation process by the police.

The former CBI chief has however expressed satisfaction over the way investigations are going on and has offered full co-operation from the BCCI. "They are on a right track", he said, but refused to divulge any information he had gathered.

Besides meeting head of the Goa police as well as personally visiting the Margao police station in South Goa where investigations are on, Madhavan also met Goa Cricket Association president Dayanand Narvekar, the former deputy chief minister.

Before leaving tomorrow afternoon, he is also planning to meet GCA secretary Vinod Phadke, who was also interrogated by the police. Rama Shankardas, the GCA treasurer however is already in the police custody on the charges of printing and selling bogus tickets and cheating the cricket fans all over India.

"The BCCI is quite concerned about the happenings", said Madhavan, stating that such misdeeds should be stopped immediately in the interest of cricket. While expressing ignorance over such bogus tickets being sold at all cricket matches, he said : "first time such an allegation has been made".

Meanwhile, getting more deeper into the investigations, Goa police today arrested Eknath Naik, brother-in-law of GCA president Narvekar, for selling bogus tickets unauthorisedly. The police also raised the GCA office, which was sealed all these days.

This takes the total count to six persons arrested till date, including GCA treasurer Shankardas, ticket contractor Chinmay Fallari, his brother Devdatt, Tamil Nadu-based printer Jairajan Ramaswamy and Gangaram Bhise, another selling agent.

The police have also gathered enough evidence to prove that besides the contractor, the GCA had printed over 6000 tickets unauthorisedly and sold it to cricket fans, through its official printer in Hyderabad as well as in Goa.

The official letter written to SP (South) I D Shukla by Hi Tech Print System Ltd, Hyderabad, its owner has admitted of having printed 1650 extra tickets at the request of the GCA, but without producing its bill. In addition, he admits that 760 tickets were printed later on 28 March, for the consumption of Pepsi, the official sponsor.

According to Shukla, the Hyderabad-based official printer has even admitted of having committed the fraud, but with good intentions, as the GCA had told him that the additional amount would be utilised for the development of the stadium, in consultation with the Sports Authority of Goa.

Besides this, Goa-based Suresh Kankonkar has confessed before the police that he had printed 750 tickets in Panaji from the hard disc while the GCA had also not given at least 3000 tickets to the contractor, but retained with them. This takes the tally to 6160, while the police is still investigating why 48 blank sheets of computer print outs of the tickets were brought from Hyderabad.

Though the police is still maintaining silence over direct involvement of Narvekar, the GCA president and former deputy chief minister, sources in the department disclose that evidence gathered till date indicates Narvekar's involvement in it.

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